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Honors College

MrFreakinKite

New Member
Would graduating with honors in college make any difference when it comes time to apply for SNA? The reason I asked is because I got accepted into the Honors college at where I (plan to) take NROTC. I'm already looking at a very heavy course load and I don't want to be overwhelmed to find out that in the end it didn't really matter if I was in honors or not.

Anybody know anything here?
 

Uncle Fester

Robot Pimp
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
I can't see how it would make any difference.

If you think it'd make any difference for your post-Navy career, then that's another thing.
 

PerDiem

Look what I can do!!
The only difference I could see it making would be if it was on your fitrep and your advisors took that into account when ranking you with your class, thus helping your chances with your service selection.
 

ChunksJR

Retired.
pilot
Contributor
Would graduating with honors in college make any difference when it comes time to apply for SNA? The reason I asked is because I got accepted into the Honors college at where I (plan to) take NROTC. I'm already looking at a very heavy course load and I don't want to be overwhelmed to find out that in the end it didn't really matter if I was in honors or not.

Anybody know anything here?

I know a little something. I know that timing is everything. Work your a$$ off and if it doesn't work out, it'll not be through any fault of your own and you can continue through life without that pesky "what if" bug.

I also know that if you break yourself by doing to much, you'll end up in the same place as if you didn't take a load to start with...Life is balance, sometimes you learn it the hard way - Go with a decision and do the best you can - either way.
 

RyanF

unimportant
Don't know how much of a difference it will make for a SNA application, but having had friends do the honors challenge at my school I have to ask why you would want to undertake harder course work and risk a lower gpa instead of rocking out in the regular courses? Either way you still get the same degree (at least at my school).
 

OUSOONER

Crusty Shellback
pilot
If they take a dope like me who had 8 F's on their college transcript I say you don't need to strain yourself. Why can't you just do well in your college if it already seems tough? If you find you have extra time in the ROTC plus your schooling...I think doing an extracurricular sport or volunteering somewhere would make you way more competitive than just trying to break yourself going into the "Honors College" just to help your chances of picking up a pilot slot.

They look at the whole person..not just some nerd with 20/20 vision and a Good Low. Like Chunks said, it's all about timing. Do your best in a degree that you like, concentrate on being more well rounded rather than just an academic...and you'll be fine.
 

MrFreakinKite

New Member
I think I'm just going to go with regular college. I don't see what makes Honors so special... Maybe just being able to say "yeah I'm in honors college"... Thank you all for the advice.
 

FLYTPAY

Pro-Rec Fighter Pilot
pilot
None
If you were a 1600 SAT 4.0 GPA with all AP classes, type of guy in high school, go for it. If not, just work on getting good grades and being well rounded. I do not see the "Honors" college thing helping out.....not really in the real world either. If you cannot get an SNA or even officer slot, the your good GPA is going to get you the interview and your personality is going to land the job. When it comes to graduate education, how you perform on your qualifying test, and your academic record combine to qualify you for admission. Bottom line, don't be a homo, study hard, and talk to girls.
 

armada1651

Hey intern, get me a Campari!
pilot
I wouldn't toss out the idea altogether. I did the Honors program at my school, so I'll run through a few of my thoughts on it.

First, as others have asked, will it affect your GPA? It might, but you're the best judge of that. For me, the Honors professors tended to grade significantly harder (especially in terms of quality of writing) than those of my friends not in the program. So yes, it probably brought my GPA down a little - I graduated with about a 3.46, and maybe I could have had more like a 3.7 if I'd taken easier, non-Honors classes, but I'd be surprised if it made the difference between picking up 1390 and being sent to SWO-land for you; it obviously didn't hurt me that much.

Secondly, make sure the Honors classes won't interfere with your scheduling too much. I think I was the second NROTC student to do the Honors program at my school and I know was the second student from my major to do it; I was the first to try to put all three together, and it turned out the programs didn't mesh very well. If you're going to a big school, it shouldn't be too difficult to make it work, but at a small college like the one I went to, class offerings are pretty limited and I wound up having a lot of scheduling conflicts that were sometimes tricky to work through.

Also, as Uncle Fester said, consider what the experience will do for you post-Navy. But additionally, consider what it will do for you IN the Navy. The apparent obvious answer is "nothing" - nobody's ever going to care that you were in Honors in college - but I think there's a lot more to it than that. For example, as I said, the professors in the classes I took held us to pretty high standards in terms of writing and I became a much better writer because of it. That helped me a lot in other classes, probably most notably my CO's ethics class. He was very picky with writing as well and handed out some pretty harsh grades, but I always managed to do well, which made me stand out in my class. And good writing skills will often be very helpful throughout an officer career (or so I've been told repeatedly).

So I guess my recommendation would be to do some research, talk to professors, talk to students, and consider how it'll affect you in the long run. For me, I think the cost-benefit was in my favor.
 

Uncle Fester

Robot Pimp
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Super Moderator
Contributor
The OP's question was whether going Honors would help him get selected for SNA. My answer would have to be, I really doubt it. A good GPA with some challenging courses on your transcript is all you really need (4.0 in Basketweaving doesn't do much for you).

I'd agree w/ armada in so much as some decent English classes will benefit you in the long run. I'm amazed how many officers can't write worth a damn.
 

exhelodrvr

Well-Known Member
pilot
Would graduating with honors in college make any difference when it comes time to apply for SNA? The reason I asked is because I got accepted into the Honors college at where I (plan to) take NROTC. I'm already looking at a very heavy course load and I don't want to be overwhelmed to find out that in the end it didn't really matter if I was in honors or not.

Anybody know anything here?

I think that you're always better off pushing yourself (within reason) than not.

You don't mention what your major is going to be, asking the others here - I am guessing that is likely to have an impact on getting selected for nuclear power, and doing well in an honors program in a technical major would be likely to increase that potential, right? (From the assumption that nuclear power would not be the first choice on the wish list.)
 

CommodoreMid

Whateva! I do what I want!
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Again, like everyone else said, do what makes sense for you personally and academically. I got accepted to do an honors thesis in my major (which at my school and in my major was regarded as one of the more difficult honors programs) and I didn't give a 2nd thought to it with regards to NROTC. It was a 3 semester program and I ended up dropping out after the 1st semester because my research was going no where and I was getting behind, but even today I know I could have handled the workload with NROTC. Bottom line, if you will find it personally fulfilling without detracting from your ability to perform in your other classes and in NROTC, go for it. When else will you get this opportunity?
 

OUSOONER

Crusty Shellback
pilot
With regards to getting a pilot slot though, if he does have that "extra" time to work on honor classes along with NROTC...why not get involved in a club team sport on campus or do some volunteer work? Remember, it is the "whole person". I'd rather spend my time rounding myself out in other areas if I was already doing really well in a good major instead of just piling on more academic quals.

I think a person is much more interesting and also much more attractive to an employer when they have a wide range of experiences and extracurriculars.

Hell, if the OP can afford it , maybe get some flight lessons or something just to fill some time and do something he's going to enjoy.
 

Iron Maiden

New Member
One thing the OP might want to check. In some Honors College programs taking the Honors College courses the first couple years totally satisfies the Gen Ed requirements. The classes tend to be more interesting too. If it is not your thing you can drop it after you take enough Honors core courses to satisfy Gen Ed.

YMMV
 
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